Thursday, March 16, 2017

Evan Longoria Manning Third for New York in 2017? Hmmm Maybe

When Pete Rose talks I have to say that I am not one that
usually listens, not anymore lately. I am kind of bitter towards the “Hit Man”
if I’m being completely honest after spending so many years defending him and
his claim to a spot in the Hall of Fame eventually. Pete not only lied but made
me look like a fool but one thing he knows maybe better than gambling and lying
is baseball so when he talks about the sport I have to listen. Rose spoke about
something Yankees related recently and I have to admit that it makes a ton of
sense for New York, it involves making a trade for the Tampa Bay Rays third
baseman Evan Longoria and plugging him in at the hot corner as soon as the 2017
season. That’s the ultimate “Get Greedy” move that spawned this blog and its
name. Well done.

Why does this make sense for New York? The Yankees third
basemen combined for an OPS of just .690 last season which ranked them 29th
overall out of 30 teams in Major League Baseball. You don’t have to be a
statmatician or a fan of Moneyball to know that 29th best out of 20
teams means the Yankees got little to no production out of their third basemen
in 2016, or as I like to say “Chase Headley sucks.” Headley, who sucks in case
you forgot, is set to make $13 million in 2017 and 2018 before finally hitting
the free agency market just in time for Miguel Andujar to come up, well
assuming the team doesn’t take the Pete Rose suggestion and acquire Evan Longoria
from the Tampa Bay Rays first.

Now again this was just a suggestion by Rose as he stated he
wanted to see great players like Longoria on bigger market teams who make the
postseason and he simply used the Yankees and the Chicago Cubs as examples but
the need is definitely there for New York. Longoria wouldn’t come cheap in
terms of prospects or dollars as he is still owed $95 million on his current
contract with Tampa Bay and presumably the Rays would expect a King’s Ransom
for him whether they were trading him within the division or not.

Would Tampa Bay entertain it? Maybe. They traded away
everyone else not named Chris Archer and Longoria, have recently traded Logan
Forsythe and at least listened to offers for Archer as recently as last season
so you never truly know what’s going to happen with the Rays. Stay tuned I
guess because Pete Rose may finally be onto something good for the game of
Major League Baseball.